SUNFLOWER STANDS TALL, JENNI CONTRERAS Jenni Contreras is in her senior year at Ashford University obtaining her degree in business with a focus in Organizational Management. She received her Associate degree from the University of Phoenix. She is interested in seeing how ethical leadership run their organizations differently than non-ethical leaders and how that affects the employees and ultimately the consumer and the environment. She also has an interest in photography where she is fascinated with catching a moment in time, as well as catching the beauty that nature creates.

THE RUNAWAY MOON An ancient soul searches the four wind, just as the one who has lived so long looks at some braided sunlit rigging, falling on the shoulders of seasoned timber admiringly. Just as the wooden block answers to the sculptor's chisel. The chips fall, putting new life into an old place. Use your eyes as narrator of this story, your taste, for a protagonist and realize the chemistry of water and it's Creator, the deep, black waters reflecting the night. Deep water the moon pulls this way and pushes that way the same waves from the Read More »

NANNIE’S KITCHEN We all have beloved places from our childhood that give us warm, loving memories as we grow older. One of my most beloved places was my grandmother, Nannie’s, kitchen. Today, years later, the sights, smells, and tastes in her kitchen remain vivid in my memory. When you walked into Nannie’s kitchen, on the back wall there was a solid wood door and some windows that opened onto an enclosed back porch. The windows always had quaint, lace curtains hanging over them. Beneath the windows sat a round kitchen table made of gleaming solid oak, where family and Read More »

LEGACY’S POSTURE I am from a tribe. A tribe that is fighting for my life. It has always fought for my life. When I was a baby, my father died fighting for my life. Although, my grandmother says, he died fighting for the land and family. I just think it’s all about family. I think that we understand that the land is fixed to the people, but I’m just a kid. I’m 9 years old, but I don’t feel nine years old. In my head, I am older. I am close to my father’s age, and so, I understand Read More »

UNTITLED Valencia Benjamin is majoring in English and psychology at Ashford University. This photography collection is a piece on the elements. It is a projection of The Nature of Human instinct, as it relates to the environment. The collection attempts to pose the question, "Does the universe communicate with us through energy?" Considering that we all emit some energy, contribute some anatomical particles, take up some space, the answer is surely yes.

MY MOM HATES BIRDS Mom hates birds, so she always said. Walking the embankment, near the water’s edge; Playing with my sister, giggling, jumping; Near, the river’s edge. A black cloud in the sky; flew around the wooded side. Over the water thru the thick trees, I can’t remember? I cannot see! I cannot see! But I can’t remember, The cabin in New York, remember a mere me, I was just maybe three, I love the sound of birds; soaring high and high. The swishes of a single glide, oh, how I wish I might fly. Read More »

MY LAND, MY MOTHER Can you hear the drums? // Ba-rum-pum-pum-pum //Ba-rum-pum-pum-pum //pum-pum-pum They shine in their design Sounds climb within refine And I’m// The war, The core, The silence, The storm, The mountain, The multitude, The death, And // the Calvary Valencia Benjamin is a student at Ashford University. Her poems focus on racism, displacement, assimilation, oppression and spirituality.

THE IMPORTANCE OF KITES Over a footbridge, walk my daughter and I. It is a blustery day, so a kite we shall fly. We hold hands and giggle, running uphill, For the top is the best for kite flying thrill. Unwinding the string, the kite excitedly flutters. As does my daughter, from one foot to the other. Releasing the string, the kite starts to soar. “But wait,” says the child. “Isn’t there more?” “Yes!” I reply, observing our vessel. “This kite is unique, extraordinary, special!” Kite control tight, kite flying stance, I yank hard to the left and Read More »

FAREWELL Alivia and I have been friends for twenty-five years. Our meeting was serendipitous; our grandmothers were neighbors and our respective visits aligned more often than not. As children, we eventually became neighbors in our own right, no longer relying on the convenient location of grandparents. Now, we were neighbors again. It wasn’t planned, but it certainly wasn’t unfortunate. I moved away when I got married and she eventually moved into the house next door. Living so close to one another, it was strange how infrequently we visited. Life often gets in the way of the simple things, like Read More »

US I read Dante on long car rides And you sing me cheesy love songs from the radio You’re brave that way I speak too softly Try to make myself small enough in the world To hide from its ugly teeth It’s never worked before, but Happiness feels karmically dangerous Like maybe your love for me Is a pocket full of stones When I’m floating in the ocean “We’ll figure it out” you say Seems like we always are but That’s usually enough Amber Gaudet is an emerging poet and aspiring editor/publisher.

THE RED ROSE OF DEATH The night was cold and dark as the rain flew down and beat against my window I pulled the cover over my head, but then I heard a voice that said, “Chris, Chris!” I then looked around my room only to see darkness, for all the lights were off in the house. I felt as if I were being watched. So I pulled back my curtains and there it was-the most horrifying creature I had ever seen. He had eyes as dark as coal, teeth as sharp as razors with blood dripping from them. Read More »